


The Boards Between Us

by notyourdaydream



Category: Glee
Genre: Also kurtcedes supremacy, Canon Compliant, Gen, Quinn Fabray-centric, Quinncedes friendship supremacy, all friendship supremacy actually, quinn learns to play chess, season 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notyourdaydream/pseuds/notyourdaydream
Summary: Quinn learns to play chess with the help of her friends.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Quinn Fabray/Original Male Character(s), Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Kudos: 3





	The Boards Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Last month I watched The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, and saw a lot of Quinn in Beth, the main character. So of course I began to write this fic for my first story of 2020. I should warn that I have a very limited understanding of how chess works, and most of my knowledge comes from the show and my trying to learn to play.

Yale has been…different.

Different in a good way, of course. Quinn would be a fool to say it was bad. She’s been working for this moment since childhood. She would strut around in her dad’s old cap and gown, layered on top of her sparkly fairy princess dress. She used the proper “ladylike” etiquette her mother taught, waving her hands like a pretty princess in the movies, making sure to step straight and stand tall.

Theater is hard. All of her classes are hard, but she pushes through. Her teachers are kind if not pushy, pushing her to do more. More steps, more calculations, more volume. She comes back to her apartment everyday, tired and sweaty, but she’s never had so much fun. At first, she was nervous to major in musical theater. She isn’t a strong singer like Rachel or Mercedes, or a dancer like Britt. But she’s starting to realize that maybe that’s okay. She’s tried so hard to be someone that wasn’t herself her whole life. She needs to spend some time figuring out who she actually is. 

There’s a cheerleading squad at Yale. The girls are all very nice, they smile extra hard in her presence. It’s familiar. She would be accepted immediately, no tryout required. It could be a new home. But Quinn’s done with cheerleading. Looking back, she doesn’t like who she was with her slicked back into a ponytail and shouting cheers. Besides, the only coach she would be able to tolerate is Coach Sylvester. 

But she needs something to do to pass the time. She’s a sophomore in college now, and she has yet to go to a big party she actually enjoyed or hang out with anyone besides her small circle of friends. In between re-running dance sequences and working on her voice (more power, more volume) she does nothing. Posts updates on Facebook, checks up on her friends. Their lives seem to be moving on rather quickly. Sophomore year for them seems to be high school extended. Singing, auditions, marriage proposals (she’ll never forgive herself from missing out on Blaine’s epic proposal). She hasn’t heard from Puck in a while. Anyway. She thinks of joining a club. Nothing major, just something to keep her mind busy on weekends.

Most clubs are held on Saturdays or late on weekdays. So she walks through the empty halls on a Saturday night, peeking into slightly open doors. Nothing piques her interest until she hears what sounds like plastic clinking plastic and sees a small crowd gathered around a table.

“Checkmate. Play again?”

“Sure. Michael, can you reset the clocks?”

Quinn stands in the threshold of the room, watching quietly as the two boys reset the board. 

Chess. They’re playing chess.

She’s always wanted to learn to play chess. She remembers watching her dad and a family friend play, a silent competitiveness in the air as they traded wins back and forth. She begged him to teach her. He said it was too adult for her, too masculine. Girls should be playing house and dreaming of being married, her mom said. She’s angry, looking back now while standing in the doorway. But there’s nothing she can do now. Except prove them wrong.

She steps further into the room to get a better view at the game. It’s chess like she’s never seen before. It’s fast. Once the guy with the white pieces goes and he punches the clock, their hands fly. Move a piece, click the clock, take a piece, click the clock. Nobody speaks. She moves into the crowd, next to a tall man with brown hair and a crooked brow. Few people acknowledge her presence, eyes glued to the advancing game.

“Excuse me,” Quinn whispers, “what’s going on here?”

“Chess.” the man replies simply.

She rolls her eyes. “Yes I know that. But why are they going so fast?”

“This is speed chess.”

“What’s speed chess?”

“Shh!” a short man hisses at the two, glaring before turning back around.

“Come here,” the man says, leading her over to a table with two chairs and a chess board. “Wanna play?”

“Oh, no I don’t know how to play. But,” she sighs. “I want to learn. Can somebody here teach me?” She looks around at the room. Other guys and a few girls sit across from one another, writing things into notebooks or looking over the board, fingers ghosting over ivory pieces.

“I can uh, teach you,” the man says, sitting in the chair next to him, making his knees press into his chest.

So Quinn sits down, smooths her dress out (even though she ironed it before leaving) and stares out at the board between them. They guy thrusts his hand out, looking suddenly nervous.

“You do this before every game. Good sportsmanship. Tobias Wheeler.” Tobias glances down her clasped hands.

 _Am I seriously about to do this?_ She looks up at Tobias’ face, with a soft smile and easy eyes. Oh what the hell.

“Quinn Fabray.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'm almost done with chapter two, and I'll post it as soon as I finish.


End file.
